A SADDLEWORTH wildlife rescue charity has helped reunite a beloved parrot with its owner – after nine years.
Barney, an African Grey, was stolen on August 17, 2017, when burglars broke into a home, and took the bird along with electrical items.
It is believed he was forced into a hessian sack before the offenders fled.
But a remarkable chain of events involving Hillary Harry and Friends Wildlife Rescue in Diggle led to the shock reunion.
After being found in the car park of the IKEA store in Ashton-under-Lyne on July 30, he was taken to the Carr Lane centre.
Staff spent two days trying to identify who he belonged to after a microchip check after he was initially taken to Animal Trust Vets in the town revealed the contact details were no longer up to date.
Eventually, a Google search using Barney’s name and age uncovered news reports from 2017 about an African Grey parrot stolen during a burglary in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
The discovery led rescuers to the original police crime reference number and ultimately to Barney’s stunned owner, Mr Mortimer.
For his first response was reportedly: “He’s not alive.”
However, rescuers were delighted to tell him that Barney was indeed alive and well and on August 5, the pair were finally reunited in what was described as an emotional meeting nearly nine years after they were separated.
What many believed would never have a happy ending has become an extraordinary reunion story – made possible by the determination of a Saddleworth wildlife rescue centre that refused to give up searching for Barney’s home.
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